Many diseases occurring in humans and animals can be detected by the presence of foreign substances, particularly in the blood, the substances being specifically associated with a disease or condition. Tests for antigens or other such substances produced as a result of such diseases show great promise as a diagnostic tool for the early detection of the particular disease which produced the antigen or other substance. Procedures for the detection of such substances must be reliable, reproducible, and sensitive in order to constitute a practical diagnostic procedure for health care providers. In addition, any such procedure should be able to be carried out quickly and inexpensively by persons of ordinary skill and training in laboratory procedures.
For example, in the treatment of the various malignancies that afflict humans and animals, referred to generally as cancer, it is recognized that early detection is the key to effective treatment, especially as most therapeutic procedures are more effective and safer in relatively early stages of cancer than in later stages. For example, many chemotherapeutic drugs that are toxic to malignant cells are also toxic to normal cells, and the higher doses required to cure or arrest more advanced cases of cancer can cause uncomfortable and serious side effects. Also, surgery is most often effective only before the disease has spread or metastasized. Far too many cases of cancer are only discovered too late for effective treatment.
Accordingly, there has been and continues to be a great need for reliable tests that can diagnose cancer at early stages, and a great deal of research effort has gone to this end. In this connection new tests and procedures are being developed to effect early diagnosis of cancer.
One extremely desirable aspect of such a test is its ability either to detect all types of cancer generally, or to detect specific types of cancer, depending on the materials used. The former application of such a test is very important in mass screenings of large patient populations, as would be done in routine checkups. In such mass screenings a test dependent on a particular type of cancer would not be desirable, as there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of types of cancer and a test that could spot only one or a few types of the disease is far too likely to miss many cases of cancer. In general, these patients would present either no symptoms or vague generalized symptoms that could not be readily linked to a particular type of cancer, so there would be no basis for suspecting a particular type and administering a test specific for that type.
In contrast, once the presence of malignancy is known or strongly suspected, it would be desirable to have a test that could pinpoint the particular type of malignancy present. Such a test could add greatly to the efficiency of treatment, because many of the most effective cancer therapies, such as chemotherapeutic agents, are only effective against one type of cancer or at best, a narrow range of types, and the wrong chemotherapy can do more harm than good.
In an effort to meet this need and to improve the diagnosis and early detection of cancer in human and animal bodies, a test procedure has been developed which involves the measurement of changes in the structuredness of the cytoplasmic matrix (SCM) of living lymphocytes when exposed either to phytohaemagglutinin or to cancer-associated antigens. This procedure has been described in L. Cercek, B. Cercek, and C. I. V. Franklin, "Biophysical Differentiation Between Lymphocytes from Healthy Donors, Patients with Malignant Diseases and Other Disorders," Brit J. Cancer 29, 345-352 (1974), and L. Cercek and B. Cercek, "Application of the Phenomenon of Changes in the Structuredness of Cytoplasmic Matrix (SCM) in the Diagnosis of Malignant Disorders: a Review," Europ. J. Cancer 13, 903-915 (1977).
In accordance with this procedure, a subpopulation of potentially SCM-responding lymphocytes is separated from a blood sample of the patient being tested and the lymphocytes are incubated with malignant tissue or extracts of malignant tissue. If the blood sample donor is afflicted with a malignancy, there is a characteristic SCM response that can be differentiated from the SCM response of lymphocytes from donors not afflicted with a malignancy. The SCM response is determined by measuring changes in intracellular fluorescein fluorescence polarization of the SCM-responding lymphocytes.
The changes seen in the SCM test are believed to reflect changes in the internal structure of the lymphocyte as the lymphocyte is activated for synthesis. These changes are seen as a decrease in the fluorescence polarization of the cells when polarized light is used to excite the fluorescein present in the cells. Fluorescence polarization is a measure of intracellular rigidity; the greater the intracellular mobility, the less the measured fluorescence polarization. An observed decrease in fluorescence polarization is thought to result mainly from changes in the conformation of the mitochondria, the energy-producing organelles of the cell. The change in the mitochondria is believed to result from the contractions of the cristae or inner folds of the mitochondrial membrane. The SCM reflects the forces of interaction between macromolecules and small molecules such as water molecules, ions, adenosine triphosphate, and cyclic adenosine phosphate. Perturbations of these interactions result in changes in the SCM.
The SCM test is capable of responding to a relatively small quantity of malignant cells. About 10.sup.9 cells in a person weighing 70 kg are enough to cause the lymphocytes to respond in the SCM test in the characteristic pattern of malignancy. In mice, when as few as 3.5.times.10.sup.5 Ehrlich ascites (tumor) cells are implanted, the pattern of the response in the SCM test is altered; response to cancer-specific antigens is induced, while the normal response to phytohaemagglutinin is virtually eliminated (L. Cercek and B. Cercek, "Changes in SCM-Responses of Lymphocytes in Mice After Implantation with Ehrlich Ascites Cells," Europ. J. Cancer 17, 167-171 (1981)).
The SCM test allows early detection of cancer, often much earlier than is possible by conventional methods, with relatively little discomfort to the patient except as may be involved in taking a blood sample.
However, this procedure does have disadvantages. For example, it requires preparation of crude extracts from tumor tissues and the like or the use of the tumor tissue itself as a source of cancer-associated antigens. There are several major problems with the use of malignant tissue or extracts of such tissue in the SCM test. For example, it is sometimes difficult to obtain the required quantity of tissue. Also, the use of whole tissues or crude extracts of tissues can introduce interfering substances into the test procedure. These interfering substances can adversely affect the sensitivity of the test or adversely affect the test results themselves. The presence or absence of these interfering substances can easily vary from batch to batch of malignant tissue, introducing undesirable variability into the SCM test. Additionally, because the interfering substances are present in whole tissue or crude extracts, they are very difficult to identify or quantitate.
Accordingly it is very desirable to identify, separate, and purify the factor or factors that provoke a response by SCM-responding lymphocytes. The use of such purified factor or factors would enhance the SCM cancer screening test because interfering substances would not be present, and would aid in the study of cancer, its causes and its effects on human and animal bodies. The availability of purified factors would allow the production of specific antibodies against them. Such antibodies would be useful for both diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
It is also very desirable to determine the complete chemical composition and structure of such SCM-active factors. If they turn out to be peptides or proteins, it would be especially desirable to determine their complete amino acid sequence. The knowledge of their complete amino acid sequence would allow their production by either solid-phase peptide synthesis techniques or recombinant DNA techniques. The application of these techniques would result in the availability of larger quantities of the factors without the necessity of isolating them from blood plasma or cancer tissue.